


The Fall of the Van der Linde Gang: An Analysis of Selections from the Journal of Arthur Morgan

by kittleimp



Series: The Articles of Megan O'Rinn [1]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate History, Canon Compliant, Gen, History Student Writes An Essay, Pseudo-History, Pseudo-academia, She Probably Gets A B, for now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 11:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19887223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittleimp/pseuds/kittleimp
Summary: Delilah Marston found an old journal in her attic. Finally, after 120 years, historians learn how the Van der Linde Gang fell.





	The Fall of the Van der Linde Gang: An Analysis of Selections from the Journal of Arthur Morgan

**Author's Note:**

> Turns out if I'm not assigned essays for a year or two I'll just start writing them myself.

# The Fall of the Van der Linde Gang

## An Analysis of Selections from the Journal of Arthur Morgan

#### By Megan O'Rinn

Children grow up with stories. Often times, these are stories of heroes fighting against the forces of evil. Snow White against the Evil Queen. Cinderella against the aptly named Evil Step-Mother. Simple stories with simple messages designed to teach right from wrong.

However, as they grow, children begin to learn. They realize, as everyone must, that the world does not exist in the black and white dichotomies of their youth. Good and evil are all relative. It is then that some begin to take interest in stories that dance in those shades of gray. And what could be a better genre for dubious morality than the tales of the wild west?

Now, not everyone takes a full interest in cowboys and outlaws, but many read about them or play pretend. Among those, some will move past the popular Boy Calloway comics and take a deeper dive into the true tales of the old times. They will find stories of the Jack Hall Gang robbing and killing across the United States until a bank heist gone bad landed most of them in prison. They will find reports of the O’Driscoll Gang terrorizing the country with their cruelty until falling to pieces when Colm O’Driscoll was finally hanged for his crimes. They will even find legends of the mysterious Van der Linde Gang running rampant for decades - what they will not find is the true tale of how the Van der Linde Gang fell.

Even in 1899, the exact cause for the sudden dissolution of the gang was a mystery. One newspaper reported that the local law enforcement attributed it to fear. Some speculated that they were all killed, though this was discovered to be false when multiple members resurfaced in the following years. Many people have claimed to be part of the gang, but none have been verified, so first-hand accounts were unreliable. Historians have long accepted that their downfall would remain a mystery until the end of time due to lack of evidence.

That changed when a young woman named Delilah Marston stumbled upon a trunk in her grandfather’s attic.

Inside the old, tattered box was an extra large black garbage bag that had been taped shut. After opening that, she discovered a bundle wrapped up in a blanket. Inside were two hats, a denim vest, a bundle of newspapers, and a large, hand-crafted leather satchel. That satchel held a number of letters, notes, and a single leather-bound journal once owned by Dutch van der Linde’s right hand man, Arthur Morgan. Morgan’s journal reveals the truth of the Van der Linde Gang’s downfall and gives an inside look at life during the gang’s last year, providing valuable historical information on the dying days of outlaw gangs that has never been seen before.

Before launching into the unknown depths of the Van der Linde gang’s fall, it is important to know where they came from. They may be an undisputed legend of the west, but nobody starts that way. Unfortunately, verifiable history of the gang is hard to come by. The closest thing to fact that historians have is the 1899 report by the Pinkerton Detective Agency that profiled the gang and some of its key members.

According to the Pinkerton report, the Van der Linde gang began activity in the late 1870s. At the time, there were only three known members: Hosea Matthews, Dutch van der Linde, and Arthur Morgan. Morgan was in his late teens. Van der Linde’s charisma, idealism, and socialist values quickly gained him a following. Susan Grimshaw is listed as one of the earliest members and was with the gang for the duration of its existence. John Marston, the second boy to be picked up and raised by Van der Linde, was with the gang for fourteen years. Others joined over time. Some stayed for mere weeks, while others remained loyal for much longer.

In the spring of 1899, the gang was reportedly seen in the eastern part of New Austin. They caused small amounts of trouble throughout the state, but were less of a concern to law enforcement than the violent Del Lobos Gang that also plagued the area at the time. That changed in May of 1899.

The Blackwater Massacre was a dark time for the city. Dutch van der Linde and his men were confronted while attempting to rob a ferry carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars headed to the West Elizabeth Cooperative Bank. While attempting to flee, they were caught and entered a standoff with law enforcement. On one side, Dutch’s Boys. On the other were the combined forces of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, the Blackwater Police Department, and multiple smaller groups composed of bounty hunters or supporters from nearby towns.

Nobody knows exactly what happened, but most can agree that Van der Linde’s coldblooded murder of Heidi McCourt, a young mother he briefly used as a hostage, sparked the bloodbath. The gang fled the city and packed what they could from their camp. It only took minutes for the authorities to find them. The entire Van der Linde Gang fled north with a small army at their heels, shooting their way out and leaving their fallen behind. Eventually they gained enough of a lead to escape into the Grizzly Mountains.

The final body count has never been accurately quantified. Some estimates claim around fifty men were killed, while others put the death toll at over one hundred. Heidi McCourt was the only civilian killed, but multiple others were injured. From the gang, Matthew “Mac” Callander was killed and Sean MacGuire was captured. Many of the escapees were presumed to be injured.

Following this disaster, the gang began a summer of terror. Over the next few months they went on a crime spree through West Elizabeth, New Hanover, Lemoyne, and Ambarino. Some of their most notable crimes included the Strawberry Massacre, multiple violent incidents in and around Rhodes, and a botched bank robbery in Saint Denis that resulted in the death of two gang members, founding member Hosea Matthews and nineteen-year-old Lenny Summers.

Though they escaped the lockdown of Saint Denis, the gang seemed to struggle from that point on. Pinkerton files mention finding the gang’s recently abandoned camp. None of them were seen for weeks. Then, suddenly, there was a lead. The Pinkertons mention that they intercepted Micah Bell, a vicious member who had joined shortly before the Blackwater Massacre, on his way back to the gang. He told a tale about being stranded on an island, claimed all of the money from the bank heist was lost, and agreed to tell them what he could, both then and after he reunited with the rest of the gang - all in exchange for a promise that he would not be killed.

Bell divulged a fair amount of information, but the Pinkertons themselves admitted that much of it was unreliable. Their reports suggest that they were using Bell to destabilize the gang more than gain significant information. Patrols searched for the gang almost constantly. As they got desperate, the gang’s crimes became more nonsensical. They aided rebelling natives from the Wapiti tribe, stole a wagon of explosives, and blew up a train bridge in Ambarino.

The gang’s last major crime was a train robbery. The freight was money that was intended to pay for the labor necessary to rebuild the destroyed bridge, which many speculate was their motivation for that crime in the first place. This move was anticipated. Some of the Pinkerton agents attacked the gang’s camp during the heist and arrested Abigail Roberts, one of the female gang members. They planned to use her to get more information about the gang before launching a full scale attack.

Unfortunately for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, they underestimated the gang’s willingness to protect each other. Within hours, Arthur Morgan and an unidentified woman attacked Van Horn Trading Post, where Roberts was being held. She was freed and the three escaped. Among the numerous casualties was Agent Andrew Milton, who had been leading the investigation against the Van der Linde Gang.

Despite the lack of information, the Pinkertons and multiple other law enforcement groups, as well as volunteers and bounty hunters, attacked the gang’s camp. The gang scattered. Despite the force of the attack and the length of the chase, only Susan Grimshaw was killed.

After this, the Van der Linde Gang was never seen again. The possibility that all of them were killed was suggested, but disproven when some of the members reappeared years later. Van der Linde himself lived until 1911, by which point he had created another gang composed entirely of young men. Javier Escuella, Marion “Bill” Williamson, Dutch van der Linde, a man simply known as “Uncle,” and John Marston were hunted down in 1911.

The official story is that John Marston went on a revenge spree, taking down his former friends one after another until he was killed in a shootout at his ranch. This was later disputed by his son, Jack Marston, who claimed that his father was blackmailed into killing the surviving members and then murdered when he was finished. Unfortunately, Jack Marston’s versions of the events have never been corroborated. Regardless of the truth, there was nobody left to answer the many questions surrounding the demise of the gang.

Or at least, nobody who was living. Now, after over a century, Delilah Marston’s discovery has unveiled the story of Arthur Morgan, told from beyond the grave.

Morgan’s journal is undated, but historians have matched the entries to historical events to create a timeline. It begins shortly before the Blackwater Massacre took place, carries on through the following months, and ends just before the gang’s dissolution. Most of the early entries confirm known facts. The gang arrived in Valentine, was responsible for a massacre in Strawberry, moved on to Rhodes, then fled to an old plantation house near Saint Denis. This is where Morgan’s account begins rewriting history.

The entries themselves begin to show the uncertainty permeating the gang. Following a failed trolley station robbery, things become truly chaotic. Van der Linde blames the source of their information - Angelo Bronte, who ran the city’s Italian mafia at the time - and is out for blood. Morgan himself states that “Dutch don’t like being made a fool of” and expresses a belief that Van der Linde will seek revenge.

In the next entry, Morgan vaguely mentions their retaliation. He writes that they were attempting to teach Bronte a lesson, and taught them that “alligators have a nasty way about them.” This vague recollection suggests that Bronte was eaten by an alligator. Historical accounts from other members of the Italian Mafia do not contradict this. In fact, Bronte’s disappearance was described a kidnapping by multiple sources. He was never seen again.

Despite his prediction of revenge being true, Morgan appears disillusioned by Van der Linde’s actions. He notes that Van der Linde’s newest plan of sailing to Tahiti sounds ridiculous, but goes along with it regardless. His reasoning is that “Dutch probably has it right. This country really don’t want folk like us no more.” Along with this mournful sentiment, he documents his harsh feelings on the city dwelling citizens of Saint Denis. To him, they appear even more cruel and callous than his fellow outlaws.

A few vague entries later, Morgan lifts the mystery of the Saint Denis escape. Following the robbery, Morgan writes “we fled, leapt on a ship, sailed into a storm, the ship sank.” He doesn’t go into detail, but mentions that they washed up on Guarma. This corroborates the story Bell told the Pinkertons. The timeline also matches up with tales from the Guarma Revolution of 1899 mentioning a group of white men fighting alongside the rebels.

Following their return from Guarma, the gang reunited and moved to a new camp to escape the Pinkertons. In this entry, Morgan openly states that Van der Linde “seems half crazed by all we gone through,” the most blatant doubt of his mentor’s sanity that he has shown thus far. Still, he stands by the gang.

At this point, Morgan’s personal story takes a sudden turn. He reveals that he has been diagnosed with tuberculosis, which was a death sentence at the time. Morgan laments, “all them fights and it was beating up that pathetic little fella Downes that killed me, I reckon.” This seems to refer to Thomas Downes, who he mentions earlier in his journal as being a sick man he assaulted while attempting to collect a debt.

His diagnosis seems to spark a crisis in Morgan. He questions his morality, the morality of the world, and wonders if he is past saving. Despite claiming that “part of [himself] has always longed for death,” Morgan begins second guessing the life he has lived for so long. This theme continues throughout the rest of his journal and only grows more pronounced. This benefits historical researchers, as his entries begin to dwell more on the gang’s criminal activities.

Morgan’s doubts about Van der Linde come to a head following a prison break at Sisika Penitentiary. Van der Linde was against it, despite the fact that it saved the life of John Marston, and berated them for it upon their return. In response, Morgan states that “the years of blind loyalty is at an end.” He goes on to clarify that he still intends to be loyal, but he wants to think for himself.

In the following entries, mentions of Bell become more frequent. Many of them are accompanied by comments of distrust. Through all of it, Morgan frequently mentions that he can no longer trust Van der Linde as he used to. He states shortly after the destruction of Bacchus Bridge that “the time for heroics and loyalty to people is over.” Perhaps contradicting himself, he begins writing about hopes that John Marston will escape before they are all killed. This is likely due in part to the fact that Marston was the father of Jack Marston, who was four years old at the time, and was in a relationship with Jack’s mother, Abigail Roberts.

One of the important points Morgan mentions is that they became mixed up with the US Army. This was largely due to their encouragement of the rebellion staged by young members of the Wapiti tribe near the end of 1899. This put them in the national government spotlight more than their other crimes had and increased funding for the hunt against them.

At this point, the cause of the gang’s implosion becomes apparent. Morgan begins discussing how the entire gang is unsure about whether they can trust their leader any longer, which likely caused tension in the camp and a split between those with differing opinions. If even his most devoted follower was doubting him so strongly, most of Van der Linde’s gang had likely already lost faith.

Morgan’s last entry ends with desperate pleas. One to an old lover, who he begs simply to be happy. Another to Marston, instructing him to protect Roberts and their son. Then, finally, he gives Van der Linde a simple message:

“Dutch, start listening to them as really loved you.”

It can only be assumed that the last Pinkerton raid happened shortly after that entry was written. The journal is undated, so it is impossible to know for sure. Morgan was never seen again after fleeing alongside Marston.

Curiously, this is not the last entry in the journal. Around 1907, it was picked up again by none other than John Marston himself, who came to possess the notebook through unknown means. Most of his entries involve his life in 1907, but he does give occasional clues to the past, especially when interacting with old friends.

One such hint was that “[Sadie Adler] and Arthur saved Abigail and then Arthur saved my life”. This suggests that the unknown woman Morgan worked with to rescue Roberts was named Sadie Adler, and that Morgan did something shortly after that protected Marston. This could have been immediately leading up to or even during the Pinkerton raid.

It seems likely that Morgan died during the attack and his body was simply not found. This is supported by the fact that Marston only mentions him in the past tense. In Marston’s last journal entry, he takes great care to sketch an image of a grave marker bearing Morgan’s name. While it is possible that he survived and passed away in the interim, the lack of journal entries seem to suggest otherwise.

While the exact events of that fateful night were not documented, the events that led up to them provide a vital look into the gang’s inner workings. Historians can now see that the gang crumbled from the center. Though it may have been made faster by the pressure of being pursued, or by the betrayal of Micah Bell, Van der Linde’s instability frayed the ropes that tied the gang together until they could no longer hold. The answer to the Van der Linde Gang’s mystery is nothing extraordinary. Perhaps that is what makes it so sad to hear. They lived their lives fighting everyone around them, only to be destroyed from within.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, please drop a comment if you enjoyed it! Every single one means a lot to me.
> 
> Visit me on tumblr at [kittleimp](https://morgan-callahan.tumblr.com>morgan-callahan</a>%20for%20more%20video%20game%20stuff,%20or%20<a%20href=) for everything else!


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